comScore releases The 2010 US Digital Year in Review

"2010 was a very positive year for the digital media industry, highlighted by a strong rebound in e-commerce spending, significant innovation and increased demand for online advertising, and an explosion in digital content consumption across multiple platforms," said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni.

"As we embark on a promising 2011, marketers must have a sound understanding of the digital media landscape and how it is changing if they hope to capitalise on key trends that can drive their business into the future."

To download a complimentary copy of The comScore 2010 US Digital Year in Review report, go to www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Presentations_Whitepapers/2011/2010_US_Digital_Year_in_Review.

2010 marked resurgence for digital media industry in the wake of the recession

As the economic environment showed signs of improvement in 2010, the digital media industry responded with significant growth across various media platforms. Industry innovations brought an unprecedented number of options to consumers as digital media continued to weave itself even tighter into the fabric of Americans' daily lives.

The report provides a comprehensive view across the fixed Internet and mobile sectors to uncover this past year's important consumer trends. Key findings highlighted in the report include:

• Following 2 years of depressed consumer discretionary spending, the economy showed signs of improvement, leading to positive growth for the e-commerce market. Total US e-commerce spending reached US$227.6 billion (about R1634 billion) in 2010, up 9% versus the previous year. Travel e-commerce spending grew 6% to US$85.2 billion (about R612 billion), while retail (non-travel) e-commerce spending jumped 10% to US$142.5 billion (about R1023 billion) for the year.
  
• Social networking continued to gain momentum throughout 2010, with 9 out of every 10 US Internet users now visiting a social networking site in a month, and the average Internet user spending more than 4 hours on these sites each month. Nearly 1 out of every 8 minutes online is spent on Facebook.
  
• The US core search market grew 12% overall in 2010, driven by a 4% increase in unique searchers and an 8% increase in the number of search queries per searcher.
  
• US Internet users received a total of 4.9 trillion display ads in 2010 with display ad impressions growing 23% in December 2010 versus December 2009. Social networking sites, which now account for more than one-third of all display ad impressions, were a significant driver of growth in the display ad market in 2010.
  
• In December 2010, the average American spent more than 14 hours watching online video, a 12% increase from the prior year, and streamed a record 201 videos, an 8% increase.
  
• Major milestones in mobile were crossed during the year as smartphones reached 1 in 4 mobile subscribers and 3G penetration crossed the 50% threshold. Approximately 47% of mobile subscribers are now connected Internet media users (via browsers, applications or downloaded content), up 8 percentage points from the previous year.

comScore will also be presenting insights from the report with several industry associations via webinar. Please see below for more information (note: In some cases, webinars are for association members only):

• Shop.org: Wednesday, February 16: Register here (Members only)
  
• The Advertising Research Foundation (ARF): Wednesday, February 23: (members only) Register here. If you are not an ARF member and would like to register for free for this session please follow these instructions:

  • Go to MyARF (my.thearf.org)
    
  • Log-in or create an account
    
  • On the left side of the screen, click on "Sign up for an upcoming Event, Council or Webcast
    
  • Register for "02/23/20011 - 2010 US Digital Year In Review

  • Enter code "comScore223" in the promo code box on the bottom of the screen and click continue

• The Association of National Advertisers (ANA): Wednesday, March 2: Register here (Members only).